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S5. Ep12. Checkpoint

Checkpoint: a point at which an inspection or investigation is performed.

On the surface, the title seems obvious in its reference to the Watcher’s inspection of the Slayer, yet it also describes Buffy’s own checking of the Watcher’s and their control over her life. In a way, this episode is Buffy checking herself and discovering her own power and self worth like she never has before.

‘Checkpoint’ kicks off a four-episode mini arc of Buffy becoming more confident and comfortable in her own skin, and it is arguably her at her healthiest, mentally, for the entirety of the show. The episode not only has references to ‘Helpless’ and ‘Graduation Day’, through the Watcher’s Council, but also ‘the Freshman’. In that episode she is belittled by a professor and struggling with confidence yet discovers her own strength and is able to overcome her insecurities. All three of those episodes were huge turning points for Buffy in her journey to adulthood, and this season is all about Buffy making her final steps into adulthood.

In a lot of ways, ‘Checkpoint’ is almost a checkpoint for the series and for Buffy as a character—she’s not a child anymore, and is ready for adulthood.

Mark Field says, “that’s the challenge that Quentin puts to her: “you’re dealing with grown ups now.” Quentin demands proof that Buffy’s prepared for it, referring to information about Glory, but also, I think meaning the challenges of adulthood more generally. That was the point of the Cruciamentum in ‘Helpless’…and it’s the same tactic the Council still employs.”

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S5. Ep11. Triangle

Marking the halfway point of the season, ‘Triangle’ is directed by Christopher Hilber, who would later go on to direct ‘Bolt’ and ‘Princess and the Frog.’ Most notably, he is the son of Disney legend, Winston Hibler, who wrote many classic Disney films such as, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘Cinderella’, and more.

‘Triangle’ had a tough job, in that it was tasked with dealing with the aftermath of Riley’s cheating and departure, but also with lightening the mood after so many intense episodes. The episode’s tone and content would have been much more effective earlier in the season, yet it still works in giving the show a chance to breathe for a moment.

As wonderful as it is to finally have an episode devoted to Anya and Willow, two characters that have been seriously back-seated this season, ‘Triangle’s’ decision to have the girls’ conflict be over XANDER is majorly tone-deaf, and we’re pretty sure this episode doesn’t even pass the Bechdel test. Not only are we reminded of the Wander affair in season 3 (gee, thanks for that Jane), but somehow, once again, Xander garners more sympathy and attention than Buffy—the girl that was cheated on, gaslit, blamed, and then dumped last episode.

By having Anya place the blame for the affair on Willow's shoulders, the show continues to avoid holding Xander accountable, and weirdly centers him in an episode that should be focused on the women's stories.

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One of the biggest faults of ‘Into the Woods’ is not the confusing scene cuts, or the mediocre dialogue, but the inconsistent messaging that completely goes against the core tenants of the show. In season 4, the show used Riley breaking away from the Initiative as a positive example of rejecting operant conditioning and taking the first step towards individual autonomy. Riley’s lack of purpose and meaning apart from the Initiative and Buffy in season 5, has been very clearly portrayed as wrong, as both he and Spike have been contrasted with the Slayer’s own sense of self. His decision to go back to the Army/Military/Initiative (?) is a massive step back in his development, as his whole character arc was built on his inability to be his own person when no one is telling him what to do. While we applaud his decision to leave Sunnydale, we cannot help but feel that he's not actually making a conscious choice—only falling into what is familiar.

The episode’s framing of Spike and Riley in a sympathetic light while Buffy is labeled “crazy”, is not only inconsistent with the past few episodes, but incredibly disturbing and problematic. While we get that the show is trying to condemn Buffy’s desire for vengeance, it begins to veer into murky waters once the Slayer is portrayed as wrong for slaying soulless vampires, and the soulless vampire is shown to be another victim of the Slayer’s “inability to open up.” Whether intended or not, the show paints Riley (the cheating boyfriend) AND Spike (the stalking, stealing, murdering demon) as victims of a crazy, hardened woman, who uses men when they are convenient for her.

In one episode, the writers have disregarded the show’s message of choice and female empowerment and set a dangerous precedent for the future.

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While ‘Listening to Fear’ is not at the top of anyone’s favorite episodes list, this rewatch we found a new appreciation for its insights into where Buffy’s at this season. Built off episodes like ‘Nightmares,’ ‘Becoming,’ ‘Innocence,’ ‘Fear Itself,’ and countless others where Buffy is shown to be shouldering responsibilities and burdens that no child should face, all while fearing abandonment by her friends and family because of it. This fear is the crux of her arc this season, as she worries that deep down, she is a dark, unlovable thing that doesn’t belong.

The scene between Buffy and Dawn (her inner child), brings this to light, as Dawn expresses her fear that she is just a thing and that Joyce hates her. This reflects Buffy’s own worries, especially given her mom’s past reactions, and continues to reinforce the belief that her loved ones leave or refuse to accept her because she is inherently unlovable.

For seasons now, Joyce has struggled to come to terms with Buffy’s calling—never seeming to fully grasp what it means for her daughter. Yet in the moment when she realizes and unconditionally accepts who Dawn is, the show clearly displays that for the first time ever, Joyce truly sees and accepts Buffy. It’s a beautiful and layered scene as Joyce mourns the loss of Buffy’s girlhood, acknowledges the burden she must carry, and recognizes the Gift she is to the world.

Listen to our analysis of 'Listening to Fear' wherever you stream your podcasts!

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S5. Ep9. Listening to Fear

Sandwiched between ‘Shadow’ and ‘Into the Woods,’ ‘Listening to Fear’ is another hallway episode that is most famous for the disgusting Queller demon. While painful to watch at times due to the reappearance of the Initiative, the deterioration of Joyce’s mental health, and Riley’s cheating, this episode holds some of the most beautiful Summers’ family moments yet.

Surprisingly, ‘LTF’ makes several references to the more obscure ‘Killed by Death,’ an episode that canonically established Buffy’s fear of hospitals because of the death of her cousin by Der Kinderstod. The use of the same hospital room, the repeat of Willow bringing Buffy her homework in the hospital, and even the Queller demon’s method of killing is all reminiscent of ‘KBD.’

‘KBD’ was a reminder that Buffy is a child shouldering a heavy responsibility, as she compares herself to Ryan before promising to be the hero and fight the monsters. Giles also mentions in that episode that Buffy must have something to fight to feel like she has everything under control, saying “death and disease are possibly the only things that Buffy cannot fight.” He later talks about how children often see things that adults don’t—our hidden selves.

This season is all about Buffy trying to protect Dawn, her innocent, childlike self in an effort to not become hardened by her power. In ‘LTF’ we see Buffy being weighed down by adulthood and wishing so badly that she could be protected, like she’s protecting and shielding Dawn. And we know Dawn is here to be Buffy’s connection to that part of herself…I wonder what Dawn, the child will reveal in Buffy? What hidden part of Buffy will we see because of Dawn?

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S5. Ep8. Shadow

While not a bad episode, “Shadow” is the very definition of a hallway episode in that it is setting up many plot points for future episodes, while having no resolution of its own. The beginning of the weakest string of episodes of season 5, “Shadow” refers to the shadow on Joyce’s brain, the spell Glory uses to find Dawn, and the gloom this episode casts on the characters and season. We’re in the thick of it now, guys.

The focus of the episode is mainly on Joyce’s health and Riley’s storyline. With no identity or life outside of Buffy, Riley has projected his insecurities onto her all season, assuming her feelings and motivations without actually talking to her. While this is something he’s been wrestling with for a while now, the writers continue to convince us that they don’t like Riley by showing him cheating with a vamp at the same time that Buffy is with Joyce in the hospital.

Any hope of compassion, understanding, or even nuance in the storyline is lost, as it’s difficult to sympathize with Riley’s pain while he’s mitigating Buffy’s own.

Even more frustrating is the show framing Buffy as in the wrong when she has every justifiable right to be distracted and distant. Unfortunately the story that Riley has made up in his head has rendered him incapable of seeing the ways that Buffy does rely on him. Riley needs to realize that maybe it’s not his dissatisfaction with Buffy that’s making him so miserable, but his own meaningless life.

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S5. Ep7. Fool For Love

Another season, another fantastic episode 7. Often referred to as one of the most popular episodes of the series, “Fool for Love” is a compelling and attention-grabbing hour of television. Airing the same night as the Angel crossover “Darla,” “Fool for Love” masterfully brings the focus of the season back to the nature of the Slayer, while also confronting Buffy with her most human challenge yet—mortality.

Originally entitled “Love’s Bitch” after Spike’s iconic speech in “Lovers Walk,” the title, “Fool for Love” was taken from Sam Shephard’s play, focusing on themes of identity, destructive cycles, and the past haunting the present.

In an interesting repeat of Dracula’s own opinions of Buffy’s power, the show uses Spike’s past to attempt to convince Buffy that there is darkness inside of her. Yet, the episode cleverly casts doubt on the reliability of Spike’s narrative, directly contrasting and challenging his point of view. His attempt to compare his desire for death and danger to the Slayer’s nature might have some semblance of truth, but it’s not the full story.

Buffy’s ability to display self-control and responsibility with her power, while also using it for good, directly contrasts Spike’s unchecked desire for sex and violence. William’s crafting of the “Spike” persona is inauthentic and not a true display of identity as it is a direct response to his feelings of inadequacy and his desire for approval. He cannot change.

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While “Family” has several call backs to “Restless,” mainly regarding Willow and Tara’s relationship, it also heavily references “Goodbye Iowa.” A major theme of the episode, and season 4 in general, is the rejection of social indoctrination, as it prevents us from developing our authentic identity—something we see play out through Tara and her family in this episode. Not only did “Goodbye Iowa” see Tara sabotaging Willow’s demon finding spell, a subtle foreshadowing to the reveal in “Family,” but it is the episode where Maggie Walsh’s death triggers Riley’s identity crisis.

Confused and distraught, an angry Riley confronts Buffy for socializing with demons in Willy’s bar, pulls a gun on a human woman, and then begs Buffy for the truth. The episode ends with him being taken by his Initiative “family” to their hospital, and the last shot is of him clinging to Buffy’s bandana as his source of stability. Since that episode, Riley has rejected his indoctrination from the Initiative and Maggie but has not created an identity or purpose outside of it and her. Instead, he has relied on his relationship with Buffy to create meaning in his life, and thus establishing an unhealthy pattern of codependency with powerful women.

And here in “Family,” it’s no coincidence that Riley heads back to Willy’s bar as he seeks purpose through the rush of danger. And while he flirts with a female vampire, another powerful woman and the Buffyverse’s own symbol of stasis—the show intentionally moves past him, to include Tara and even Spike in the family shot—but not him.

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S5. Ep6. Family

One of the most beloved episodes in the series, “Family” is unique for many reasons. Not only is it the first episode of the season that is both written and directed by Joss Whedon, something that is typically reserved for episodes 1 and 7, but it is also the first and only episode to focus primarily on Tara.

In a lot of ways, the episode is a part two to “No Place Like Home,” as the show broadens the theme of family to encompass the family we create as well as the family we come from. Buffy confides with Giles about her estranged father and embraces Dawn as a sister, Riley’s wrestles with being estranged from his Initiative family, and Tara rejects her blood family.

Dawn and Tara’s status as outsiders has naturally created parallels between them, yet the show has linked them even before Dawn appeared. Willow’s dream in “Restless” mirrors the opening scene in “Family,” where both Willow and Tara watch the cat (symbolizing Dawn) while Willow shares that she feels safe. Tara’s response that Willow doesn’t know everything about her, foreshadows this episode, and Tara’s predicament.

The style of the episode is also a bit different, with Passion of the Nerd pointing out that it feels like a bedtime fairytale. It begins with Tara telling Willow a story about the little cat searching for a family, and ends with Tara being accepted in the Scooby family, and Dawn being accepted by Buffy as her sister. There are damsels in distress, wicked families, magic, and of course, a happy ending.

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Whether intentionally or unintentionally, “Out of My Mind” has several parallels to season 4’s “Doomed,” as both compare Buffy, Riley, and Spike through the themes of fear and purposelessness. Not only was “Doomed” the first episode that Mark Blucas was added to the credits, officially making Riley a main character, but it was also the episode that Buffy and Riley’s relationship began. “Doomed” showed Buffy going back to high school to face her fears of being vulnerable again in a relationship, while “Out of My Mind” shows Riley admitting to Buffy in the Initiative caves that “loving her is the scariest thing he’s ever had to do.”

“Doomed” showed Riley to be confident in his mission and sense of self, boldly calling Buffy selfish and stupid for letting fear paralyze her into stagnation, while “Out of My Mind” reveals a fully integrated and fulfilled Buffy, with Riley being the one frozen by lack of purpose.

And then there’s Spike. “Doomed” has him at his lowest as he is caught in stasis--unable to sate his bloodlust through drink or fight. While it’s easy to focus on his discovery that he can attack and kill other demons with a chip, it’s important to remember that this is also the episode where Spike begins to use his words to wound and separate the Scoobies. This again proves that the chip is not changing his nature, merely redirecting it.

In “Out of My Mind,” Spike’s continued inability to drink blood or enact violence on humans has led to a similar state of meaningless as Riley. Buffy’s thwarting of his chip removal is the last straw, as his frustration drives him into finding meaning in a new outlet—Buffy.

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Most insightful take you've seen on the buffyverse.

Hi! Sorry that it's taken me so long to respond to this ask...I've been thinking about my response for a few days because I feel like it's hard to pick just one insightful take, so I'm gonna give you two haha

I think a really insightful take that I had never thought of/noticed before finding the fandom and seeing people point things out, are all the parallels in Buffy and Angel's journeys - both together and separately. Their journeys mirror each other from the moment their paths cross to the very end. They literally go through the same things, in different situations and variations: Dawn/Connor, Death and Resurrection, Isolation/depression, Sp*ke/Darla, their leadership roles, etc. Now that I'm aware of it, I find myself finding new ways that they parallel each other every time I rewatch the shows and I find it elevates my watch of both shows SO much.

The second take absolutely blew my mind when I heard it, and I just have to share it. On the Investigating Angel Podcast (which I am a co-host of hehe), we spoke about the Buffy and Angel theme songs and how they're connected. I'll insert some screenshots here from the book Sarah found this in - Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Janet K. Halfyard:

To sum it up:

"Buffy’s basic theme is too short to really be called a melody; rather, it is a four-note motif. Angel’s theme is a considerably longer melody, and where the opening four notes echo the pitches of Buffy’s motif, the final four notes echo its shape. The similarities of key and motif between Buffy and Angel might be read as a thinly disguised means of reasserting the eternal bond between the two characters—although they are separated (into two series, apart from anything else) they will always be connected. The shared motif stands as a symbol of their common mission, of the emotional connection between them, and also of their separation."

Sarah also made a video about this, if you're interested in watching it, it's EXCELLENT:

ANYWAY, I'll just shamelessly plug our podcast now.......check out Investigating Angel Podcast on any platform! We're rewatching Angel the Series and will be wrapping up season 3 by the end of June :)

Thanks for the ask :)

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My hero

Buffy Anne Summers

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#THEBuffySummers #putsomerespectonhername #getit

ranking btvs characters and not putting buffy summers as your number one should actually be illegal. she is that girl. THE main character. and for a REASON.

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Bangel fans, we want to hear from you! During the run-up to the IWRY Fic Marathon in November, we’ll be getting to know each other through our Meet the Fandom series. Answer the questions here to join in.

What is your name?

Sarah

Where do you hang out?

Tumblr: @becomingbuffypodcast

Also @becomingbuffypodcast on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok Podcast: Becoming-buffy.castos.com

Do you create any fan works?

I have a podcast on Buffy (Becoming Buffy) and one on Angel (Investigating Angel). I create analytic essays on each episode on Instagram and Tumblr, as well as analysis videos (YouTube).

Funniest Bangel/Buffyverse moment?

Angel slipping in the doorway in Graduation Day.

What Buffyverse opinion would have you chased through the village with pitchforks?

Anya's death was a full circle moment for her character, and was earned.

How would you have given Buffy and Angel their Happily Ever After?

Angel shanshu'd and met up with Buffy after she formed the Slayer Academy and left it to Faith, Giles, and Willow. They live by the beach and Buffy breaks out the stakes every once in a while when the world needs her.

Last fic you read?

"Reprieve" by Scribes1015

Slay, Lay, Obey - Dawn, Fred, Wesley?

Slay: Fred

Lay: Wes

Obey: Dawn

Fill in the quiz so the fandom can meet you!

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Which demon do you prefer. Lorne or Doyle?

Lorne.

He's unique, warm, empathetic, hilarious, and adds an interesting dynamic by not being a fighter or a warrior.

While Doyle had a purpose on the show, the biggest impact he had was in his death. I didn't find his storyline very compelling (although he did only have a handful of episodes, so I'll cut him some slack), and he mirrored Angel a bit too much. Both Irishmen, wrestling with two halves of himself, seeking redemption...there wasn't enough about him that stood out from Angel.

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Who is the Buffy fanbase too hard on?

Dawn and Connor.

Both are children with developing brains, abnormal childhoods, dysfunctional family dynamics, and so so much trauma.

Are they annoying at times? Absolutely. Do we have to like them? Absolutely not. But we should be fair in our assessment of them.

And while there are many reasons why people don't like Dawn and Connor, some of them valid, and many of them not, it's difficult to see them being dragged all the time when the problematic favs literally get away with murder.